Return to Iceland Delayed by a Day

Dark clouds formed above the Detroit Metro Airport an hour before my friend Myles and I were to board our flight to Iceland. We were by the gate at the time. I checked my phone for the weather forecast to see a thunderstorm was immminent. Soon after, the gate agent announced the plan was delayed. To my surprise, the issue was mechanical and not weather related. Initially, the delay was twenty minutes but was soon extended by three hours. I remained optimistic but figured we were stranded in Detroit for the night.

The flight cancellation was not announced. Myles and I happened to be near the gate past ten thirty when we spotted the cancellation notice on the board behind the gate. Minutes later, I received an alert via the Delta app to alert me of the cancellation. The notice was followed by hotel and meal vouchers. As Delta had one flight a day to Iceland, we accepted the offers. Our flight was rescheduled for the same time the following night. I called the hotel listed on the offer and requested a pick-up.

Myles and I were not alone on the shuttle. The shuttle bus filled with passengers from the cancelled Iceland flight. Everyone discussed the cancellation and plans for Iceland. The shuttle dropped Myles and I off at a hotel called the Four Points by Sheraton. It was located two miles from the airport. The check-in process was simplified. Myles and I were asked for the voucher identification number and given rooms across from eachother. The night, however, was not finished.

As our check-in time for the hotel in Iceland was delayed by twenty-four hours, I had to get in touch with the hotel. I attempted to contact Expedia support but there was no phone number to call. Instead, I had to talk to a person through a chat dialogue window. The support agent, however, was no help. They attempted to seek an alternative room at the hotel instead of asking to extend the check-in time. Thankfully, the support agent was unable to contact the hotel. After Myles called the hotel direct and was able to extend the check-in time in under a minute, I followed suit.

Next, I had to contact the car rental company, Europcar. Unlike the hotel in Iceland, Europcar at the Keflavik airport did not take calls until eight in the morning. After repeated attempts to reach a support representaive, I finally was able to extend the pick-up time by twenty-four hours. With the hotel and car taken care of, I set an alarm for the morning and fell asleep. Though I was awake hours later. I had coffee, showered, and re-packed my bag. Myles and I did not have to check-out until noon but we checked out in the morning. We caught a shuttle to the airport at ten and were through airport security within twenty minutes.

Myles and I arrived ten hours before our rescheduled flight to Iceland. After a quick breakfast at McDonalds, we walked from concourse to concourse throughout the airport. We bought coffee at Starbucks and relaxed at the end of B concourse for hours. To my surprise, no flights arrived or departed from this part of the terminal. I got halfway through a new book on the Vietnam War and went through stories in Japanese on Satori Reader. In the afternoon, Myles and I returned to A concourse for lunch at P.F. Chang’s. After we finished our food, we walked to every end of A, B, and C concourse until we were tired. It was a long day full of boredom.

In the evening, the plane arrived on time from Mexico City. Myles and I waited by the gate and listened to the announcements from the gate agent as the plane was cleaned. I expected another delay as rain clouds had formed. There was a flight scheduled to Paris after the flight to Iceland and the gate agent repeatedly advised to not board the wrong flight. As Myles and I were on the jet bridge, I spotted the gate agent and asked if the plane was headed to Paris. They gave me a sarcastic laugh. I lucked out and had an entire row to myself. As usual, I chose the aisle seat.